Tricare retiree dental program ends Dec. 31, 2018. Open season for dental and vision sign up is from Nov. 12 (Monday) through Dec. 10, 2018. If you drill down through the retiree section of tricare.benefeds.com you can compare dental programs that are available for enrollment.

For the last 12 years, I've had Delta Dental and not had one single problem or issue, but have topped out on the Orthodontic Lifetime Maximum and don't think, but don't know for sure, that this open season enrollment period is a "do over". With that in mind, I'm leaning toward going with another provider and strongly considering MetLife, PPO - High.

As military retirees, who do we prefer for continued dental coverage? ... Thanks !!!

Been using Delta Dental with minimal issues. My wife does the insurance BS so I am uninformed. Of the group of guys I still stay in touch with, I think all 6 of us are all on Delta.

We're on TriCare but get dental thru my DoD civilian medical plan.

Read the fine print, there may be a waiting period for certain procedures. I recall when we signed up many years ago the more complex (read: costly) the procedure, the longer the waiting period.

Like FN, my wife handles all the BS but I do recall a waiting period.

For me Delta Dental is the most expensive option. I won't be selecting Delta Dental.

GEHA seems to offer the best price/coverage in my area based on the comparison on the website of the plans. Both our dentists are in network so I'm probably selcting GEHA High Option.

The dentist I use now is only available on one plan,and that is not the best plan for me.

In comparing the plans, there are several considerations I look at. Maybe the lowest determining factor in my choice is monthly price of the plan. All the ones worthy of consideration by me personally are all within a few dollars a month of each. The price difference between the plans amount to (much) less than $50 a year (single coverage), which isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things for insurance coverage.

The details of offered coverage is next my focus. Times delays, max coverage and deductibles etc are all considerations.

After narrowing down to one or two choices, I then use those insurers "find a dentist" function to see who in my area accepts coverage.

Somewhere in the mix, I search various sites for reviews of the insurers. Interestingly, I find those who offer the best coverage ... at least on paper ... are also those with the most review "hits" for trying to avoid paying for services or most likely to deny paying for a procedure in real world usage. But there aren't a ton of reviews available and only slightly influences my final decision.

With all that said, I'll probably go with the MetLife, PPO - High (the most expensive), if for no other reason than in the past 12 years, I've maxed out Delta's lifetime limits. Well that and I find more dentists accept MetLife here in this town (just outside an Army Post) than dentists who accept Delta but many dentists here accept both.

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With all that said, I'll probably go with the MetLife, PPO - High (the most expensive), if for no other reason than in the past 12 years, I've maxed out Delta's lifetime limits. Well that and I find more dentists accept MetLife here in this town (just outside an Army Post) than dentists who accept Delta but many dentists here accept both.

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Before selecting coverage, call the dentist/orthodontist office and speak to the biller. They will tell you about the insurer. A number of insurance companies are slow pay or no pay and require too much in the way of preauthorization.

We finally made our choice about 1/2 hour ago. After checking the plans, reviewing the dentists available and their reviews we went with AETNA.

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Originally posted by LBTRS:
For me Delta Dental is the most expensive option. I won't be selecting Delta Dental.

delta dental has two options available - medium and high.